Fox McCloud: Prince of Thieves
by SchmEthan
Summary: Deep in the heart of Lylat, hiding away in Papetoon Forest, is a band of men, ready to risk their lives for the poor people of Lylat, ravaged by the Sheriff of Venom.
1. Rumours and Henchmen

The horse-drawn carriage bound for Venom Castle trundled through Papetoon Forest as Solar began to set. The driver was determined to reach Venom before nightfall; everyone had heard the rumours. One band of men. Outlawed by Venom and the Sheriff, pilfering his supplies and taxes and passing them on to the poor, needy people of Lylat, starved, parched and robbed by the authorities of Venom. Although extra security precautions had been taken; state-of-the-art locks which could only be opened by the Sheriff's key, hidden safely away in Venom, reinforced wheels and thickened doors, there were still reports of successful attacks on Venom-bound vehicles.

The ape was sweating now. The looming shadows of the trees and shrubbery were beginning to grow in size and number, each one containing a possible band of thieves waiting to spring forward, attack his carriage and cut his-

"No," he assured himself, removing a hand from the reins to wipe the sweat from his brow, "you mustn't think of such things. You _will _get through this forest unscathed and deliver that chest to the Sheriff!"

"Well..." came a voice from behind him. The driver, now stricken with panic, swivelled around to see a silhouette of a vulpine, a green hat nestled between its protruding ears.

"Wh-what?!" the driver yelled in shock. Before he could wonder how the vulpine had boarded the carriage without a sound, an arrow was drawn and pointed towards the ape's head. He dropped the reins and while the horses slowed to a stop of their own accord, the vulpine spoke again.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to hand over that chest," he asked, his tone one of decency and seriousness and solidity.

"But the Sheriff will have me hanged if I don't deliver these goods!" pleaded the driver.

"I can take care of that;" assured the figure, "I have acquaintances in the village of Corneria who will harbour you until you are assumed dead."

The ape faltered for only a second before composing himself. "Are you certain that I will not be found?"

The fox lowered his bow, only the slightest pang of concern showing through his emerald eyes. "You have my word."

The driver nodded. "Follow me." He clambered to the ground from the stage as he searched his pockets and purse for the key to the carriage. The vulpine nimbly leapt off the roof to the rear of the carriage, where the ape was fitting the key into the large padlock that was protecting the goods. The vulpine sniffed the air and promptly braced himself.

A wry smile was scribbled across the driver's face as two armed sheep bolted from behind the doors and stuck their spears towards the fox's neck. A movement from one of the spears caused the vulpine to raise his paws in the air.

"As I said, the Sheriff would be very angry if his 'goods' were to be misplaced." He gave a low chuckle as he waited for the fox's response.

"Oh, don't worry," challenged the vulpine, obviously unaffected by the spears or the indirect threats from the driver. "We'll make sure those two get back to Venom. Although, there's no guarantee that they'll return in one piece."

That induced a hearty laugh from the ape. "Now it's 'we'? You look pretty alone to me!"

And then he realised his mistake. The corners of the vulpine's smirk seemed to close over his throat as there was a rustling in the trees behind him.

"Take a closer look, my friend."

The two spear-wielders turned to face the avian, the hare and the frog that had burst forth from the undergrowth. The avian was unwaveringly holding a staff of sorts, standing ready to attack. The hare was armed with longbow, drawn and ready to fire, while the frog held a catapult with an odd green-coloured orb in the pouch. The distraction allowed the Fox to knock his attackers out, delivering two sure blows to the back of their heads with the length of his bow. Unfortunately, the driver wasn't so susceptible. Nor was he worried about his fate upon the absence of the chest at Venom Castle it seemed; he was already on the run in the direction in which he came. After dealing with the guards, the fox swivelled around, expecting such of him.

"Falco!" he called, not turning to face his teammate. "Now!"

On the command, the avian drew a knife and sliced a nearby rope, causing rustling reactions to set off in the canopies until a huge log came slamming to the ground just in front of the ape. In the confusion caused, the vulpine was able to catch up with the driver and draw his bow once again.

Shaking, the driver immediately threw his paws up and hesitantly turned to face his attacker. "W-who are you?"

"I," the vulpine replied, "am Fox McCloud."


	2. Frogs and Treasure Chests

SchmEthan here:

Wow, I'm on a roll... ANYWAY, I'vedecided to continue this story on the side, so the updates are probably gonna be a bit sporadic, but it'll be here!

Sorry, Broken Wolf, but it's happening = P

SchmEthan.

P.S. Reviews = CAKE!!!

* * *

"Remember it," Fox finished, before allowing the driver to scramble off through the forest with a jerk of his drawn bow. He released his pull on the string and returned the arrow to his quiver. He quickly sniffed the air, not detecting any hostility, before heading back towards his allies.

"When you gonna introduce us, Fox?" asked Falco in a half-joking manner.

"I'll remember next time, alright?" came the reply with a chuckle.

"I _did _stop him from getting away and all..." the avian continued.

"Please," Peppy interrupted, "spare us."

"Alright, old man," snapped Falco.

"That's enough, you two!" stated the vulpine, walking towards the stationary carriage. "Could I have a hand with this chest?"

Falco, Peppy and Fox all held their breath as they heaved the dense, wooden chest from the back of the carriage before it landed with a THUD on the dirt below.

"Slippy," Fox gestured to the frog, "would you be so kind?"

"Always a pleasure," he replied with a smirk, before trotting over to the chest, crouching down and drawing a pouch from his over-filled belt. As he unstrung the sack, Falco grinned and nudged Peppy. "I love this part," he whispered, almost forcing Peppy's eyes to roll.

Slippy removed a pinch of red powder from the pouch and carefully sprinkled it into the keyhole on the padlock. He allowed the powder to settle for a bit, before simply spitting into the keyhole and swiftly jamming a small stone in after it. Falco couldn't help but laugh at Slippy's methods. Peppy folded his arms and glanced at Falco. "Must you?" he asked, exasperated.

"Every time, man!" was the only reply he received.

Slippy allowed himself to chuckle at the avian before backing off. "Alright, it's coming."

At first, a small amount of red slime dribbled from the keyhole, before the small amount became larger and larger until it started to leak out of any other crevices in the lock. Slippy was by far the best alchemist within a hundred miles of Venom, and he knew it. He once practised for the Sheriff himself, until he wasn't even allowed to cure his own ailment, despite the Sheriff having the same problem cured not a week before by Slippy's hand. Instead, Slippy 'accidentally' made the infection worse and fled. He ran and ran through Papetoon. However, he soon realised that he was entirely lost...

* * *

"_Oh no... Oh no..." I muttered. "I KNEW this was going to happen! WHY couldn't you have just lived with a cold for a week or two? Ugh..."_

_In my hurry, I really wasn't looking where I was going. I tripped and fell over what I _thought _was just a pile of leaves. But it wasn't..._

"_A chest? On its own? Out here?"_

_I carefully looked around. I doubted there would be anyone for miles, anyway. I took my inflation powder from my belt (my own concoction) and broke the lock open with ease. When I managed to open the chest, there was enough gold in it to support Katina Village for years. I literally didn't know what to do. I was frozen. Which was lucky, I guess._

"_How did you do that?" came a voice from behind me. I was shaking now I still couldn't answer. When I felt something cold and hard touch the back of my neck, I knew this man meant business. "I said, how did you do that?"_

"_I...erm... It's a... potion of sorts... It... uh... swells up when you spit into it. I'm an alchemist, I-I made it."_

"_And why did you open that chest?"_

"_Because I could!" I shrieked, just before realising that it was the wrong answer. "I need some food anyway; I was hoping that there might be some."_

"_Well," the voice appeared much closer now, "You won't be hoping for anything for much longer."_

_There was a swoosh of air as the cold, hard object left my neck, and I was once again paralyzed with fear._

"_Falco!" a voice shouted from a cluster of bushes, not too far away. I cringed as I waited for the blow to come, but it never did. I opened one eye to see a fox walking slowly towards me. HE crouched down so that he was level with me, what with my height. "Hello. I'm Fox McCloud. And you are?"_

"_Fox McCloud?!" I gawped. "The outlaw? The hero?" This wasn't what I expected. I had looked up to Fox whenever he had done anything courageous or selfless or anything like that. Not only was he a hero. He was my hero._

_Fox gave a low chuckle. "Yes, the very same."_

_By now, I had completely forgotten about the man behind me. The avian walked past me and proceeded to empty the chest, along with a grey-furred hare who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "I'm Slippy Toad. I have so much respect for you, Mr McCloud! I mean, stealing from the rich to give to the poor? I wish I could do all that stuff!"_

"_Please," he insisted, "just call me Fox. And, well," he glanced over at the now open chest, which was being slowly emptied by the hare and the blue bird, "with a skill like that, you probably could."_

_That confused me. "What?"_

"_Tell me, what do you do?"_

_I told Fox about my escape from Venom and how my powder worked._

"_Alchemy _and _goodwill!" Fox cried. "We could use that. How would you like to join us, since you have nowhere else to go?"_

_I'm sure there was a grin across my face at that, but it was far overshadowed by my excitement at being in the company of Fox McCloud. "Of course! Anything you need, Mr Mc- Fox, and I'll be there!" I extended my paw to him, still beaming._

_Fox stood up and shook my paw firmly. "Welcome to Papetoon. You're gonna love it here..."_

* * *

BANG

The lock had shattered, and Falco eagerly opened the chest to reveal two sacks. Upon closer inspection, one was full to the brim with money, and the other, food. The men hadn't eaten in quite a while, and they were glad of a little food.

"Well, Slippy, you've done it again," Fox pointed out, folding his arms.

Slippy mirrored Fox's actions. "All in a day's work, eh?"


End file.
